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Call for Bids to Organize & Host the 4th Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World in 2016

A call for bids has been launched to host and organize the 4th symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World, which should be held over 4 days at the end of 2016. The first three symposia (held in Paris in 2004, Monaco in 2008, and Monterey in 2012) were landmark events for the international community of researchers studying ocean acidification. The 4th edition will maintain the focus on ocean acidification and associated impacts on marine organisms, ecosystems, and biogeochemical cycles. It will consider acidification in the context of other global changes such as warming and deoxygenation, particularly the combined actions of these multiple stressors. Furthermore, it will cover socioeconomic consequences of ocean acidification, including policy and management.

The previous symposia had been organised by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO). For the next edition, these institutions prefer to move towards a new organizational model, where the local organizer not only hosts the symposium but also leads the scientific organization and the effort to find financial sponsors. The same model is already used to organize other scientific symposia, such as the International Carbon Dioxide Conference, also held every 4 years.

A Transition Committee including SCOR, IGBP, and IOC-UNESCO and led by the SOLAS-IMBER Ocean Acidification Working Group (SIOA WG) is now tasked with identifying the local host and organizer and helping in the transition. Since the previous symposia were held in Europe and North America, preference is given to proposals in other regions. Bids must be submitted be submitted by October 1, 2014 and should follow these guidelines (pdf).